Chiefs Urge That States 'Guarantee' School Quality for Those 'At Risk'

A bold new proposal drafted by the nation's chief state school
officers calls on states to "guarantee" a high-quality precollegiate
education to those students deemed least likely to finish high
school.

The chiefs were expected to endorse the seven-page policy document
this week. It represents the clearest signal yet that state officials
are ready to be held accountable for the academic performance of all
students within their jurisdictions.

Among the 11 "guarantees" for at-risk students included in the
chiefs' policy statement is the right to attend a school with a
demonstrated record of "substan6tial and sustained" student
progress.

The statement also envisions that each student would be guaranteed
access to preschool education and to an individual "teaching and
learning plan," approved by the student and his or her parents. (See
related story, page 17.)

David W. Hornbeck, outgoing president of the Council of Chief State
School Officers, said the proposals represent a "basic understanding"
that major structural revisions are needed to change a school system in
which one in four students does not graduate from high school, and
nearly 13 percent of 17-year-olds still enrolled are "functionally
illiterate."

"The issue," said Mr. Hornbeck, state superintendent of education in
Maryland, "is whether schools are going to be really serious about the
business of successfully reaching all children, or whether we're going
to continue the pattern of the past, in which we only reach 60 percent
or 80 percent of the children, depending on one's definition."

The council defined "at risk" students as those who are not likely
to complete high school successfully. It noted that a substantial
proportion of such students are from low-income families or do not
speak or comprehend the English language.

The state superintendents were scheduled to vote on the policy
statement Nov. 16, during their annual meeting in Asheville, N.C.

The council has also developed a model statute as one approach to
carrying out the legal guarantees.

Among other provisions, the statute would give children the right to
transfer from any school in which more than 25 percent of students are
not meeting "appropriate" levels of performance.

Dropouts under the age of 214would also be guaranteed the right to
re-enroll in their local public school systems or alternative
programs.

The model legislation makes it clear that students and their parents
could, as a last resort, seek legal relief for any violation of the
educational guarantees.

But it specifies that court remedies would be limited to "civil
relief," and would not include any award of monetary damages, with the
exception of those covering court costs and lawyers' fees.

The council has received a grant of $550,000 from the U.S. Labor
Department to fund initiatives in 10 states that are willing to
establish such guarantees for at-risk students, through changes either
in their regulations or in state law.

The chiefs' decision to rethink how services are delivered to
at-risk students reflects a growing dissatisfaction among education
policymakers with the limits of existing "categorical" programs.

Such programs--focused on specific subgroups of students--were meant
to provide supplementary services to youngsters, such as those in
low-income areas, who traditionally had not fared well in schools.

In recent years, however, educators have complained that categorical
programs are not well coordinated with each other or with students'
regular academic programs, resulting in a fragmented curriculum.

State officials surveyed for a report scheduled to be released
during the council's meeting said categorical programs limited the
flexibility of school districts to provide children with a continuum of
services.

In addition, some educators have argued that categorical programs
"water down" the curriculum for at-risk students. Funding for such
programs has also fluctuated widely according to each state's annual
appropriations process.

"I tend to characterize it as the 'Oliver Twist' approach to
education," said Mr. Hornbeck. "Like in the musical, when Oliver goes
to Mr. Bumble and says, 'Please sir, I'd like some more, sir."'

That approach, he said, is vastly different than having states
establish, "as a matter of policy," that "by golly, we are going to
guarantee these kids this set of things."

One of the most controversial guarantees laid out in the policy
statement is what Mr. Hornbeck refers to as an "individual teaching and
learning plan" for each student, similar to those now provided for
handicapped youngsters.

That proposal has received a "mixed reaction" among educators, Mr.
Hornbeck acknowledged.

To alleviate concerns that such plans would become inordinately
burdensome for school systems, or serve to further track and label
youngsters, the model legislation proposes that they be written only
for at-risk children in schools that are already successfully educating
most of their students.

"Up until the moment that a school becomes effective or successful,
the school itself should be the focus of attention," Mr. Hornbeck said,
"its structure, its curriculum, its staff-development programs, not the
individual child."

"The question," he added, "is how do we continue to rivet attention
on youngsters with whom we've not yet been successful" in schools that
generally are meeting their goals.

The model statute would also provide states with significant
authority--and responsibility--to intervene in school districts that
are not adequately educating all youngsters. With such expanded
authority, states would have the option of annexing a school district
or replacing its top administrative leaders.

Equally controversial is the statute's guarantee that students be
allowed to transfer out of schools in which more than 25 percent of the
student body is performing below some minimum standard.

"The notion of saying to a student and his parents, 'If we are not
being successful for you, you have a right to go someplace else,' has
provoked a lot of discussion," said Mr. Hornbeck.

"It's a new notion," he said. "It is not choice for choice's sake.
It is choice that arises only in a context in which the school is not
being successful."

Mr. Hornbeck emphasized thatel10lthe model legislation is only one
option available to states as they consider implementing the
educational guarantees included in the policy statement. It was
designed to illustrate that such guarantees could be written into
statutory language, he said.

The Maryland superintendent acknowledged that the guarantees would
cost significantly more money--particularly a proposal to provide
early-childhood education for all at-risk children by age 3 or 4.

The cost of such programs runs between $2,500 and $4,000 per child,
he said. Research has found that such programs save money in the long
term, by reducing the number of students who need remedial education or
who drop out of school.

But, Mr. Hornbeck added, "I don't know whether legislators and
elected officials will wake up to the reality of this in time or
not."

"I would be fairly cynical about the prospects based on history,
because we have not done very well by young people living in poverty,"
he said.

"But increasingly," he continued, "the private sector, elected
officials, and the wider citizenry are recognizing that without success
for all kids, our standard of living in this nation is going to go down
the tubes. And that's proving to be a significant new incentive."

Earlier this year, the Committee for Economic Development, which
includes some of the nation's leading business and higher-education
officials, issued a report calling for early, sustained intervention in
the lives of disadvantaged children and their families. That report
also advocated preschool for all disadvantaged 3- and 4-year-olds.

For now, however, fiscal problems continue to be a major barrier to
serving at-risk students, according to the state chiefs' report.

The report was based on a survey of state education officials in 49
states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.

The council also surveyed the directors of 69 programs identified by
the states and territories as successfully meeting the needs of at-risk
youths.

In addition to fiscal obstacles, state officials responding
complained about the lack of coordination and cooperation among service
providers, the difficulty of developing alternative education programs,
the common perception that not all children can learn, and the lack of
data on at-risk students or the programs that serve them.

The report found that states' definitions of such students varied
widely. Some definitions, for example, emphasized the need for early
intervention, while others focused more on potential high-school
dropouts.

According to the report, 30 states and territories now have
legislation or programs designed to meet the needs of some portion of
the at-risk student population.

Twenty-four states and territories have created new programs for
such children in recent years, but such efforts tend to be relatively
limited in scope and funding.

The report concluded that any effective strategy for helping at-risk
students would require a "team effort" on the part of state agencies,
business and industry, communities, schools, and parents.

In addition, it argued, more program emphasis should be placed on
prevention and early intervention, and "these efforts should be
generic, rather than focusing on a single risk, such as substance
abuse."

The report also said that nontraditional educational arrangements
should be encouraged for at-risk children and youths.

In addition to the initiative sponsored by the Labor Department, the
chiefs' council is planning a number of activities to follow the
release of its policy statement.

Under the leadership of Verne A. Duncan, state superintendent of
education in Oregon and the chiefs' president-elect, the group will
focus in the coming year on early-childhood education and the needs of
at-risk students.

In addition, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich has agreed to publish a book
that will include 12 papers commissioned for the chiefs' 1987 summer
institute on serving at-risk students. The book will also include the
council's policy statement, model legislation, and survey findings.

Web Only

Notice: We recently upgraded our comments. (Learn more here.) If you are logged in as a subscriber or registered user and already have a Display Name on edweek.org, you can post comments. If you do not already have a Display Name, please create one here.

Ground Rules for Posting
We encourage lively debate, but please be respectful of others. Profanity and personal attacks are prohibited. By commenting, you are agreeing to abide by our user agreement.
All comments are public.